From the depths of the glum, damp Portland, Oregon winter comes a reflective, shoe-gazing record by Post Moves. Rooted in the aesthetics of classic rock, steeping into moments of country twang, Reset Father Time is tempered by existential-dread-filled lines with images of poignancy and confession. The record opens sparingly on “Chips Before Dinner” with Sam Wenc (Eidolons, True Bummer) singing “Only one half of my brain seems to work when I don’t want it to / And you know the compromise we all make only for the family’s sake.” Is it the logical left side of the brain working, or the intuitive right side, in constructing the compromise or in reaction to the compromise? These questions linger as the instrumentation swells, trying to distance itself from the confession. We have heard it though, and there is no going back.
Wenc provides lead vocals while pulling triple duty on lead guitar, bass, and pedal steel. Kelsey Morris (Layperson, Peg House) provides a steadying hand on drums and backing vocals. It is easy to pull a cathartic or tortured narrative from this record. To take on this narrative, however, is to forget the playful moments that spring up across Reset Father Time. Wenc sings of candy canes and party streamers, comparing them to the leaves of fall. A kind of neon, pastel foliage which you can be sure Tri-Staters would flock to if they could find it.
On “We Were an American Band” Wenc sings, “I hope you listen to our songs we made in our basement and wait for the meter to change.” The downbeat diddy nods to the Portland D.I.Y. scene Wenc and Morris both come from, while also thumbing the mentality of seeing a track’s stream and skipping ahead to pin down where it goes. Nurturing progress is key for Post Moves in conveying the organic emotions that come from personal experiences projected across this record. The album closes this thought with the declaration that “it would be boring if we all stayed the same.” The greatest fear of the record, beyond seasonal affective disorder and existential dread, is the stagnation of complacency into normalcy into nothingness.
